Monday, January 16, 2012

[Review] Fury by Shirley Marr

Let me tell you my story.
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.
If I’m going to tell you my story,
I’m telling it my way.
Strap yourself in...

Eliza Boans has everything.
A big house.
A great education.
A bright future.

So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?

Eliza Boans is horrible! She's mean, shallow, a complete snob, and a murderer. If she had been a side character in another novel, I would have flat-out hated her, but in Fury I'm drawn to her like a moth to a flame. That might seem hypocritical, but since she's the main character we get to see a surprising amount of depth in Eliza. For example, she has a strong sense of loyalty to her friends, even though they might not always feel the same way towards her. Her home life isn't exactly ideal, despite being filthy rich. Eliza may not be the most pleasant person, but I still felt sorry for her as she's being interrogated.

The story is told from two perspectives, both are Eliza's. One is the present, being her after the arrest. The second is her account of the events leading up to her arrest. I've always been a fan of these kind of flip-flop narratives in books as well as movies, so I definitely liked it. This writing style kept it so that we have no details of the murder until the very end. We don't know who's dead, who actually did it, or why, just that Eliza, Lexi, Marianne and Ella have all been brought in for questioning. The why gets answered first and it's a shock. It also clearly explains the title of the book. Once we get the why it's easy to guess the who, but not the details.

When Eliza finally finishes telling her tale, I was speechless. The book is amazing, seriously, check it out if you can.

"These girls are not faceless scum that can just be thrown away. They are my friends and they have blood running through their veins. Just like I have blood in my veins enough to love them."